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Jaya tries giving Kaskan some advice, and learns he isn't a very good listener. Kaskan learns a bit more about the barkeep's past, and future plans.

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PG

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Kaskan

The moon is high over the Eastern Weyr lake, reflecting within a shimmering blanket of stars on the water's surface. Night's luminaries give the shoreline an eerie, dreamlike quality, limning the sand and it's occupants with a silver sheen. One of those occupants is Kaskan, seated cross-legged with a satchel by his side. Having briefly checked in with his charge and begged off the young man's efforts to stall him, Kaskan moved stealthily through the kitchens snatching up remnants of the evening meal for a single-serving setup alone on the beach. Lost in thought, his shadowed gaze now faces the lake as he nibbles away at a roll without really tasting it.

It must be a night for strolls, for this night finds the scarfaced barkeep making her way along the shore with her bodyguard at close range. It's easy, the air between them, though no words are exchanged as Jaya's gaze roams everywhere and Shijan's seem to only linger on what's ahead. Getting close to where Kaskan was, she spots his movements and sounds before him and has to pause her steps with a hand lightly touching Shijan's shoulder to stall him. She stares at the guard for a long moment before deciding to approach, eyes falling on the satchel before she take the liberty to plop down and sit riht beside him. Shijan arranges himself to the side of her, his hawk-like eyes on Kaskan's face as Jaya keeps her own gaze on the dark lake surface. Her greeting? "You're a fool."

Kaskan hears the pair approach but assumes like the few other's who've happened along the shore in the evening that they'll continue on without stopping to bother him. His unfriendly posture encourages the reaction. Periphially he keeps loose track of them and as he notes them coming closer he barely has time to stir out of his private musings before Jaya is plopping down beside him. Shadows mostly hide the flinch that flashes across his broad shoulders, furthered by a shift of weight that changes the fall of his tunic. One more piece of roll is plucked and dropped into his mouth before he replies without turning toward either barkeep or her guard. "Is that the general concensus or your personal opinion?"

"Personal," Jaya is easy to answer that, her gaze still on the lake. "Not sure about general yet. Who else did you piss off, hmm? You weren't looking too good the last time I saw you at my bar making eyes at the tanner." She looks at him then, her words a mixture of humor and sarcasm as she now takes stock of his face. Eyes narrowing slightly, "Do you deserve to be punched out now?" she asks the odd question, perhaps alluding to her knowing what went down with Rio but not openly verbalizing anything yet. No, she's going to sit here for now and poke at him to get any other reaction than sulking.

"Get in line," he grumbles back, apparently in no mood to do other than sulk. "Might as well piss you off too and complete the picture." His profile is hard, lips stern as his gaze remains on the lake although picking at the roll gives way to a sudden rending into two halves. Swinging his good arm he sends half arcing over the water where it lands some ways out with a soft splash.

Not reacting to his bristling, nor to his jerky movements, "You're wrong," Jaya simply says for all Kaskan says, eyes boring into him. "It wasn't over. You assumed that it was." Shaking her head, "She's right," the barkeep drawls on, not giving him a chance to speak just yet. "You are far too angry. You can't see. You can't see that she did not reject you. Only that … she says her dragon comes first." Her head goes back as she lifts her dark gaze to the stars then, eyes narrowing as she adds, "And so, you are a fool. You can fight me for saying so, but I will not change my opinion. Such anger in a guard …" and then she flicks a glance his way, "… you are willing to lose the very thing that has you twisted so. I'll admit it. I don't get it."

Kaskan boils over at that, torso twisting as he faces her more fully. "You weren't there, Jaya!" he snaps. "She said… she doesn't love me anymore." There, he said it. Something inside bleeds and the pain of it makes his tone harsh. "How could she? We've both changed so much!" His hand flips in a dismissive jerk. "What am I supposed to do? I'd only hurt her more if I tried to change her mind. She'd never…." Frustration vents a sharp huff and he jerks his chin aside, breaking eye contact before the rest of his thoughts become too apparent.

That anger. Jaya's far too familiar with it herself, so being faced with it only seems to make her more level and calm. Who knew? "I wasn't," she agrees easily to not being there, "but I did talk to her, Kas." But as he goes on, his words don't really agree with her. In fact, the look she's giving now seems to prove her very words on his anger. Breaking her stare to look out over the lake with a sigh, "I guess you do nothing," is her cool answer, showing her own frustration with the matter. "You've made up your mind, didn't you? So then why are you still so fucking mad?" Dark eyes seek his out then, an angry glint there, "You won't listen to her, and you clear as fuck aren't listening to me, so will it need to take that charge of yours?" Pause. "He did come by the bar sometime ago," she adds, frowning heavily. "Worried about you! Wanting to know what he can do for you! What the fuck was I suppose to tell him, huh? "

Kaskan fumes, ember flames darkening the shadows of his face. Vocabulary scatters on an emotional tide that opens and closes his mouth several times without releasing a single coherent word. The fingers of one hand dig into the sand at his side while the other rises toward Jaya then rolls the gesture into a frustrated raking through his hair. Hand gripping the back of his neck he seethes with a visible intensity, demeanor vibrating with a rage made more wild by the confusion of an unstable foundation. The rigidly held guard that kept him safely aloof from the world around him for so long has been shattered but the pieces still cut deep with every move he makes. Nothing seems certain. Everything brings more pain.

Distraction comes briefly at mention of Jhorn and his blue gaze looks to her as a connection is made. "You told him about me and Rio. I wondered how he figured that out." The statement is rhetorical; his tone dismissive as he tilts his chin down and to the side. A random breeze from the lake drifts by, sifting the various layers of his hair across his face.

When he shifts again the intensity is back, more focused as he leans slightly toward the barkeep. "Why am I mad?? Maybe because you're telling me one thing when she told me another. I talked to her. She told me how she feels. I'm trying to deal with it." His voice falters with that admission, tone becoming empty and bitter. "I don't know what you expect me to do."

Jaya is silent through Kaskan's quiet raging, the woman watching him intently without any words from her own lips. She merely inclines her head when he makes the connection on Jhorn, but still she remains silent. It's only when he answers her question on his anger that it manages to break her silence. His answer doesn't seem to change her expression, but something said gets a snort. It's probably his question for her since it only happens after he asks so. Shaking her head and leaning back a little, "I expect you to fight for what you want, if you want it," she makes that answer sound as easy and simple as she means it. "If I want something, someone, bad enough? It would take Thread burning through me not to fight for it." Dark eyes on him then, "But as you said. She told you one thing. She told me another. You're made your decision." Some would say Jaya's words are cold and unyielding, but the barkeep always has a method to her madness. Sometimes, anyway. Straightening up, "So what are you going to do about Jhorn?" she asks then, deliberately changing the subject since the guard seemed set in his ways. She's not one to argue a point (well, maybe not lately), and so she returns to her neutral position in this situation.

Kaskan hisses sharply at her words, leaning even further toward her as she leans back. "What makes you think I didn't, Jaya? I nearly got myself killed and destroyed my whole family because I wouldn't let her go." His tone is clipped and dripping with bitterness. "Would you really fight that hard for someone who didn't want you in return?" His raised hand drops to slap the sand. "Dammit, Jaya! It's not /my/ decison!" His teenage charge, at least, is easier to contemplate, so the reply is given with a scoffing jerk of his chin. "That boy will never understand." Then, softer, "I hope he never does."

"That's the past," Jaya notes before tacking on, "You don't think I know anything about the past?" Snorting, "If only you knew, shuga. If only," she adds, giving him the side-eye. Back to the topic though. To the question given, "Maybe," she says to that in answer. "If the chance was there. I … look, shuga. You do what you've got to do," she says with a gesture that suggests she's wiping her hands of the matter. "Just know that I'll deck you a good one for sure if you send her crying again for walking out on her. We'll be golden otherwise." Of course, the Dicori threat was bound to come in somewhere. Looking away only then on the matter of Jhorn, "He will," she answers on him understanding. "He seemed pretty determined to fix this for you. You must mean a lot to him to get so involved. Took me awhile to even convince him that you were so broken up over a woman. I suppose he thought such things beneath you?" A brow lifts at that, the Bitran looking his way then in slight askance.

"What do you mean?" Kaskan demands, reining in the urge to grab the barkeep and shake her. He hasn't forgotten her bodyguard sitting nearby though he physically looms enough to give the other man concern. "If only I knew /what/? Is there something you're not telling me?" At her threat he merely sets his jaw, biting back further comment until he gets an answer to the first. Her surmising on Jhorn draws an eye-rolled snort, however, and an unapologetic murmur, "I thought they were."

"I meant," Jaya leans forward to pin a hard look on Kaskan, "that you're dwelling on the past rather than now. Rocio is dead, Kas," she tells him flatly without apology. "She died back there in Crom. Rio is different. The past is beyond her! She has Eovarijath, sure, and she will always be in that first spot in her life, but I fail to see why that's such a problem for you?" Pausing, "Did she say in specific words that she no longer loved you anymore?" she asks then, her regard there before she catches that murmur and furrows her brows at him. Not sure what to say to that, she looks back to the lake and falls silent for a long moment. Then, "I should probably go," she says in a low voice, the barkeep casting a guarded look his way before she slowly starts getting to her knees.

Kaskan stops breathing entirely at the harshness of her words but the resulting pain leaves behind a tang of bitter truth. Second guessing himself, his slate blue regard narrows on her features as she looks away again, critically observant not of what he sees but of what he can't see. Silence may settle between them for a long moment but that moment seems to stand still for the Bollian guard as a quick-step series of internal questions and revisions rumble about in his head. Did Rio say those /exact/ words? And didn't she infer that there was no more room with her dragon encompassing her life? Thoughts still awhirl, he starts slightly as she moves to rise and darts a hand out to grip her arm. The hold is firm but light enough to easily break. "Don't go." Tone a hoarse whisper, he keeps his chin angled to make the most of the shadows created by over-long bangs.

Jaya was halfway up from the knees when she felt a hand on her arm. Looking back at Kaskan for the grip and his words, there's a lingering silence from then before she says wryly, "I seem to be only making things worse, shuga." Shrugging a bit awkwardly, "I guess I just … wanted to understand," she tries to explain, the woman barely shaking her head. "If the both of you are so certain, then there's nothing more I can say. I mean what do I know? I … never had what you and Rio had." She's not going at least, but she hasn't sat back down, either.

Since she doesn't move away, Kaskan doesn't let go. Tilting his chin upward at her he gives it a sharp jerk to clear his view of lingering bangs. "You're not making it worse, Jaya," he says on a sigh, wetting his lips against the sudden dryness that seems to suck him up from the inside-out. "I'm just not used to anyone… caring so much." Rugged features crinkle with wry chagrin as he curls his free hand in his lap, filtering the remaining shafts of anger. "Between you and Jhorn I just feel… trapped. I don't understand what's happening myself, let alone be able to do whatever it is you all expect me to do." Fight, she had said. But fight who, or what? Swallowing hard he squeezes her arm, broad shoulders giving way slightly as he asks again, "Don't go. I… don't wanna be alone."

Her arm still caught, “I take care of my friends,” Jaya says it simply, as if that should be obvious. Turning to face Kaskan now, “I think … the best thing for anyone outside of this to do is to leave this to you and her. I told Jhorn he shouldn’t get involved – that, there’s nothing he can do himself about this. As for me …” and she takes a lingering pause, holding her breath before letting it go and then catches him squeezing his arm. “I’m just a barkeep,” she finishes her statement then, sending Kaskan bland faint smile. “I know about drinks. I know about trouble. I know nothing about love.” Since he asks, she sinks back down into her previous sitting position, inclining her head into a little nod for staying. She exchange glances with Shijan, who is watching only momentarily when she got up, but now his own gaze is settling back on the dark lake. “Have you ever thought about … taking some time away from the Weyr for awhile with Jhorn?” she suggests then, once she was settled. “Some fresh air could help clear the mind, you know. This Weyr, it … it can muddle up the mind.” Yeah, she would know. “All the Weyrs probably do for those of us not from it.”

Kaskan releases her arm as she sits, crooking a sidelong tilt to his lips by way of thank you. A little snort escapes as he muses on Jhorn, "Telling /him/ not to get involved is as good as telling a dragon not to fly." Folding his legs he leans an elbow on his knee and props his chin on bent fingers, thumb slowly stroking the stubble that shadows his jaw. The wind picks up a bit off the lake, whirling playfully about those on the beach and tugging at loose hair and clothing. Kaskan ignores the wisping raven strands that cross his view, profile stiffly stern.

Her admission draws more of a look, his blue-eyed regard drawing in what little light there is and seeming to glint with an internal intensity as he studies her face. "One of the things that first drew me to you, besides this…" he starts softly, lifting his free hand to brush curled fingers against her cheek unflinchingly disregarding the scars she bears. "…was I could tell you were as guarded as I am." Pause. "You were safe." A soft huff slips from a wry twist of his lips. Still watching her he lets his hand slowly drop, then adds, "But I find it hard to believe you've never been in love or been loved. Why else would you avoid it?" A true grin briefly crosses his lips as thoughts jump ahead of his next words. "I've met your sister. There's some love in your life."

Lastly his thoughts return to his charge, connected by her suggestion. At first he rejects it knowing that Jhorn has classes to attend so leaving the area completely would be impossible without revealing what's happened to his superiors back at Boll. As it was they weren't very happy with his progress on his secondary agenda. But fingers continue to rub at his jaw as thoughts pick up on another possibility. "He has been wanting to go camping. Maybe a couple days wouldn't hurt." Then again… thinking of the boy's boundless enthusiasm he cocks a glance at Jaya. "Unless I strangle him before we get back.".

Snorting with some amusement laced in, “Then he’ll be the bane of your existence,” Jaya tells Kaskan on the account of his charge insisting on knowing about his life, ticking off a briefly jaunty two-fingered salute from her temple. Silence meets his next though, some of that amusement ebbing away when he touches part of the nasty-looking scar on the side of her face. Frowning a bit at his words, “I’m guarded because I have to be, shuga,” she says, dry. Once his hand drops and he asks why avoid being loved, the barkeep looks away towards the lake with slightly narrowed eyes and lets the silence between them linger. Then, “I’ve made a lot of bad mistakes in my life, Kas,” she says low, seeming as if she were speaking instead to the dark lake beyond. “Mistakes that was making me live up to my family’s traditions. Cold traditions. By my age, most girls would have experienced such things as love, but … while they were falling in love with suitors at gathers, I was the one making sure that well-to-do suitor left the gather with nothing of value left on him.” Hard eyes suggest she’s not mincing words there, her chin lifting as she darts a long look his way now. “I was taught not to dwell on such things, so I didn’t,” she tells him with a firm nod. “Things like that got you killed. Sex is easy, sure,” obviously, she gives that look from their own trysts, “but men move on. They always do. The only love I’ve ever had was for profit and whiskey.”

And family? Well, his words on Beddie gets a snort there and a slow shake of her head as Jaya looks away again. “Do you know that before she came, I haven’t seen her in six turns?” she lets him know, rocking back as he gaze turns toward the sky. “Neither our brother nor our father, either.” Back to the topic of Jhorn and taking him out for awhile, brows lift at the words on camping and she puts forth with a crooked grin, “I think some air will do the both of you good, shuga. He might be what you need to see things differently, hmm? Or, at least,” and there’s a chuckle in her voice, “you can try to not kill him. I actually think he’s pretty cool. Of course, I think it’s because I’ve been living in this Weyr for too long,” she adds with a roll of her eyes. “Been tampering with my view of things.” Yep, blame the Weyr!

Kaskan listens with an unchanging expression though deep inside a small part of him long-buried and forgotten aches for the young woman at his side. His own upbringing was warm and loving, with only the typical sibling rivalries and parental rules of a large family with which to contend. Within that foundation lies the only hope of coming out of his current situation sane instead of as a lost and broken wanderer. Having suffered the loss of that previous life he realizes all the more how poignant a void it leaves. Having long-since accepted that he'll never see his own family again he merely grunts with acknowledgement at her lack of family contact. In a tone devoid of superficial pity but laced with understanding empathy instead he notes, "That's a tough way to grow up. Explains your knife-wielding skills though." He adds the last with a salute imitating the one she gave him, flicking off the side of his brow where a fading scar still resides.

Her observations on his exuberant young charge's influence are taken with a grumbled shake of his head and the reply, "I will not tell him you said that he's 'pretty cool'. He'll have you on a pedestal so high you'll whack your head on the starstones."

His humor sours somewhat on her last comment even though she meant it otherwise. He smiles lightly anyway, masking the sudden turn of his thoughts. Whether she can tell or not depends on how good she is at reading body language. So far removed from Southern Boll and with the upheaval of recent events it's easy to forget the political shades to his assignment. Silence settles on the soft lapping of the incoming tide for a moment, then he asks with seemingly random curiosity, "How do you think the weyr has changed you?"

“Tough,” Jaya seems to agree easily with a firm nod there, “but to be honest, I wouldn’t have traded it for all the marks in a Lord Holder’s coffers.” Or, wait- She laughs through Kaskan’s salute back to her on her knife skills, and she nudges him a bit on his words dealing with Jhorn. “Hey, if the kid wants to worship me-“ nope, he did not say ‘worship’ but she’s saying it anyway “-then I see no point in trying to deter him! It’s not easy being me, you know. I’d at least like a little appreciation – even if it’s coming from some holdbred kid I could fleece in my sleep!” Not that she would, you know, fleece him. Nope. She does note the turn of his demeanor when she notes her last, a slight frown present at his sudden question. Blinking once, “Well,” she drawls, considering her answer to that, “I seem to be a lot less angry these days, shuga. You should have met me when I first got here.” Lips twitch at that, the Bitran shrugging a bit before adding quickly, “That’s not to say that I no longer carry the infamous Dicori temper, of course. I do, just … I’m starting to learn how to, ah, control it better?” That gets consideration before she nods to that. “Yeah, control it. Just … I feel it. A lot of the things I was doing, it’s getting harder to find reasons to do them – because of the folks here, you know? Like Max, L’ron … even Rio. Especially her.”

Clutching his chest, Kaskan fakes a strike of pain to his heart, proclaiming in exaggerated earnest, "I appreciate you! I believe I've detailed quite thoroughly how much I've appreciated your… particular assets!" What was it Jhorn said about her ass? When she gives him a thoughtful answer to his question he sombers, listening closer than he appears to as fingers absently flick some sand from his thigh and an occasional glance is raised to note her expression. Controlling her temper? That seems like a stretch to him knowing the shortness of his own fuse. As for the other though, that he can understand fully. Her list of names brings him up short, idle movements halting as he looks to her again with open curiosity. "Why especially Rio?"

“You’ve appreciated my ass, at least,” Jaya is not one to coat things with flowery words, flapping her fingers at him in wry nature. “I can’t complain on that, but still.” In the ongoing silence afterwards, the barkeep leans back a bit to pay some attention to what stars she could see up in the sky when she hears his question on Rio. Taking a moment to compose her thoughts without looking at him, “Other than my old barkeep boss up in Telgar,” she confides, a gentle smile given to the stars, “Rio was the first to believe in me. What she’s been through… I haven’t been through what she has,” she admits, her dark gaze falling on Kaskan, “but I’ve had my time, too.” Head tilts slightly in the dim light to show the scar on the side of her face, a finger grazing it idly before straightening. “You don’t know what it’s like, Kas, to actually find someone who gives a shit. The things I was going through back then … thinking that no one got me …” and she shakes her head to that, not needing to finish. “I understand her, because she understands me. Not much difference between she and I, if you knew. Interesting how there ends up being something in common between a holder girl from Crom and a renegade girl from Bitra.” It’s the first time she mentions her lot in life, figuring by now that if the Bollian guard were to know her by her notorious deeds, he would have carted her off to the mines by now."

Kaskan forgets to look mildly interested as Jaya lays out her explanation, avid curiosity plain on his face. Rugged features flinch at her mention of Rio's harsh past, his conscience still laying much of the blame for that on himself. He doesn't look to the stars as she does, watching her face instead. Those nightly luminaries limn his dark hair with a gossimer silver lining, deepening the shadows beneath, and drop a mote of stardust in his light blue regard. A touch of surprise lifts brows behind over-long bangs at her self-description but he doesn't comment on it. Many things she's said in the past hinted at such a background though never in any detail. Maybe most guards take their position to the level of policing as well, but Kaskan has seen enough in life to prefer minding his own business. As long as it doesn't adversely affect what he's guarding then he'll not get involved. That private philosophy, however, has been stretched to its limit by what his superiors back at Boll want him to do while in the south, which is another matter he's wrestling with entirely. Some of that internal struggle might show in fleeting glimses but his personal interest in Jaya and Rio over-rides it at the moment. "So you've known her a long time then? Has she been here, at the weyr, all that long? Do you think she is… happy?" The questions pile on as if in afterthought but grow more loaded by the last, his concern plainly belying any denials of how deep his own feelings run on the matter.

While some of the internal struggles going on within Kaskan is being detected while Jaya speaks, for the most part she stays neutral enough that he probably wouldn’t think she has. Well aware of his interests in regards to Rio, perhaps fashioning the conversation so in the first place, the barkeep doesn’t really appear surprised when he asks more questions about the gold weyrling. Lounging back a bit more comfortably as she takes in the first question with a pause, “She was a glow tender when I first met her,” she tells him, a finger lifting to tap idly at the bottom of her chin. “Couldn’t help being drawn to a girl that tells me on first meeting that she’s killed someone. I mean, sure, been around enough disreputable men where such conversations were normal, but despite the veil on her face she didn’t seem the sort, you know?” Snorting with light amusement, “Didn’t really know her a long time, shuga. She was here already when I came. Met her one night and we’ve talked ever since.” His second question gets longer regard, however. She regards his face after he asks it, seeming to be deliberating what to say to that in the silence before putting out blithely, “Since Impressing? Yes,” she nods firmly to that. “Something about getting a dragon in your head, I guess. I don’t see it, but then, I’ve never been one to revere dragonriders like some around here.” She shakes her head to that and adds, “Rio’s well, but I’ve always thought she needed more. You should really get to know her again,” she tacks the last on without any pause, sending him an even look. “She should get to know you. Might be good for the both of you. If not to start over, then to, you know, have closure. Just don’t wait something like six turns, like I did..

Kaskan listens with a rapt thirst, gathering the bits and pieces of Rio's history like droplets of precious water to a dying man. Outwardly he manages to appear calm, sliding one hand across the sand to pick out a pebble then resting his forearms on his thighs as he rolls it around in his fingers. "Those veils…" he murmurs absently when she mentions them. Brows furrow as his expression darkens, fingers closing briefly around the pebble. "She shouldn't have to wear those," he whispers angrily. Then on an even softer sigh, "You should've seen her before, Jaya. She was /so/ beautiful and she knew it. I can't imagine what having that done to her…" His voice trails off in bitterness, picking up again as he adds, "It doesn't matter to me - she showed me the scars when we talked last - but she must've been devastated.” Rearing back he gives the pebble a hard throw sending it soaring far over the lake before disappearing silently into the water. He turns back with a veil of surprise over the lingering anger of his expression, light blue gaze searching Jaya's. "What do you mean 'like you did'?"

“Those veils,” Jaya echoes those words, watching Kaskan’s face with interest, “are there because she is not ready yet to bare her scars openly. I don’t hide mine because it’s a reminder to me,” and she gestures fingers at that marred side of her face. “Because seeing it intimidates some. But Rio … it will take time, before she can face herself that way. Face her past.” And beautiful? The lopsided smile is one of understanding, even though she had never seen Rio before her face was scarred. She watches him throw the pebble, detecting the bitterness in his voice before he voices his question. There was a take in of breath, small before dispelling it before she replies back dryly, “After my dad kicked me out of the clan, I hadn’t seen any of them since. Six turns, about. Never sent a letter or a bottle of brandy. Was certain they thought me dead until a friend here got me to write Beddie.” Looking away towards the lake, “That’s why she came, I suspect,” she states, lips quirking up briefly. “Likely wanted to make sure I was really alive. She probably knew all along though.” Beat. She lets the silence linger a bit longer now, eyes on the lake before she sighs and moves to touch Kaskan’s shoulder companionably. Eyes on him now, “I really should get back to the bar,” she tells him with a jerk of her chin upwards towards the darkness of the sky. “Need to finish putting the arrangements together for my being out of the Weyr, shuga. I’ll be heading out soon for a good sevenday"

Anger is slowly displaced as Kaskan listens to Jaya's story, moved instead to those who would treat one of their own flesh with such disregard. His impression of her inner strength is reaffirmed to have gotten where she is with that sort of foundation. "That's messed up," he notes with typical bluntness. Then, as if it helps, "Beddie seemed nice." He doesn't know what else to say so is quiet when she finishes Her touch draws his attention, blue eyes widening at what she says. "A sevenday? Shells, you trust us with your bar that long?" A little grin toys with the corners of his lips as he can't resist teasing, but then asks more seriously, "Where ya going?"

Perhaps chosen words and the method of conversation – something a seasoned barkeep should be good at – had the proper effect that Jaya was looking for in Kaskan’s regard. Seeming to sense his anger dissipating, the Bitran barkeep sends him a more pleased grin at his blunt response to her family story. A shrug is given in easy response, “Life,” she answers simply to that, “and yes … Beddie is. Nice.” She’ll admit that much. She’s not to the point of getting all mushy over her twin sister, if ever. Getting slowly to her feet now, his tease gets a snort and a roll of her eyes expressively. “I come back and find something either broken or out of place …” she starts off that threat, probably typical by now really. That and besides, there’s a wry smirk in place to suggest it might not be serious. “Just don’t give my barmaids any grief, hm? Shijan’s not going to be there to help them kick you out when you need it,” alluding to the bodyguard leaving with her. Shijan near them, well within hearing distance, sends very faint amusement in their direction – there and gone. Once to her feet and stretching out her back, his more serious question gets a long look down his way as she deliberates how to answer. Then, “Somewhere nice, quiet. Need to clear my head, shuga. Said to be a real nice beach, but I’ve never been there before.” Stepping away, “Should be interesting, at least. Or boring,” she notes blithely, shrugging a bit as she toes the ground. “Either way, look forward to getting away for a little while.”

"Shijan won't be there either?" Kaskan clarifies with a low whistle. Dark brows arch behind over-long bangs, humor feathering a few crinkles around his blue eyes. Broad shoulders shrug non-commitedly but he's really just teasing her. Her description elicits a shadow of interest across his features, his head tilting up at her as she rises and stretches. Resting his forearms on his thighs again he doesn't appear ready to move himself anytime soon. Starlight pools in his raised regard, giving his expression a mischevious gleam. "Sounds like what you were just telling me to do. Maybe Jhorn and I should go with you instead of camping."

At that whistle, “I have nothing to worry about,” Jaya drawls, sending the guard a look for his teases before snorting. “Suli will have you on your ass before you can employ any type of charms on her.” Yeah, Suli really doesn’t need all that much reason to ‘regulate’. Kaskan’s last earns some warm laughter, washing over her frame with tired ease as she waves fingers at him on that notion. Dry, “I said I need to clear my head,” she reiterates, “not have it filled with ideas on how to knock a knife over your head again.” It’s her turn to tease, the Bitra tossing a wink his way before she adds, “I’m serious about you going camping, though. You can regale that charge of yours on all your exploits – like the time you knocked Lord Bitra on his ass?” Brow lifts at that one, trying to recall what Jhorn had slipped out and told her on their meeting.

A little extra tilt to his head marks Kaskan's doubt of his charms not working on the stalwart Suli, lips curling with a smug little lift of roguish self-confidence. Her tease earns a snorted laugh as he reaches out to slap a palm against her calf. "I'd prefer you not contemplate that one either," is said with a feigned frown. "I may have serious reprecussions from that, ya know. You owe me." Now its his turn to waggle a finger. In the next instant humor is doused by a wave of surprise, his light blue regard narrowing on her suspiciously. "Knocked him on his….?" he echoes, tone baffled. "First of all, that's not what happened. Secondly, how the shards did you know about that??"

Jaya sends a pointed look that confident demeanor on display from the Bollian guard, only reiterating her words on the Telgari barmaid in silence. Looking as if she was going to scuff him with her boot for that smack to her calf, "You? Repercussions?" and the barkeep snorts loudly on that one. "Well, I might think so if I see you manhandling another bush. Might think you need a healer. I know one that happens to be a relative to one of the healers here." You know, just in case Jaya did knock something up in Kaskan's head after all. "But fine, I owe you. I'll send you a bottle when you go camping. How's that?" At the last though, that splash of suspicion gets a sardonic, "I figured that was not what happened, shuga. Then again, with the way you blow through anger like fire …" A shrug is given then, answering the last merely with a blithe, "Let's just say Jhorn and I had plenty to talk about." Oh yeah. She winks and smirks and everything - just to make it seem as if she had learned all the good stuff from the young Holder.

Kaskan sits up straighter at that last wink and smirk, his body tensing as if he's going to leap up at any second if she should try and escape before answering him. "Hold on there just a minute, missy!" he barks, serious tone completely at odds with the hints of amusement about his rugged features. He pretty much guesses what Jaya told his young charge simply by what the boy said to Kaskan but as for what Jhorn might have told the barkeep… that could be slippery. Slate blue regard fixes on Jaya with intense scrutiny as if he can pluck the answers from looking in her eyes. "Exactly /what/ did the two of you talk about?"
Looking very much as if she was about to leave, Kaskan's stalling words brings Jaya up short with light amusement playing across otherwise schooled features. If she were in a very playful mood this night, she could have tossed in every possibly trick she could think of to torture the man senseless, but as it was, the barkeep simply wasn't this night. With a dramatic-like sigh and hands planting on her hips as she turns to face him, "Oh, nothing much. Mostly about you and Rio - or rather, what he was hoping to get out of me on your situation. Don't worry, Kas," she drawls out, the smirk deepening some. "Your charge didn't betray you. Asked him about me and everything, and he didn't say a word. Disappointing, actually." She at least looks disappointed while saying it - though it's really fleeting.

Kaskan simply maintains his scrutinizing regard throughout her answer, features displaying doubt. Even after she finishes he stays frozen a few more seconds, drawing the moment out for dramatic effect. Though inwardly relieved he hides it well, slowly relaxing his posture as if believing her by the slightest margin. Setting his hands to the sand slightly behind him, he leans back, giving his chin a jerk in absent habit to swing random layers aside. "Alright, good. Just so he didn't mention anything about your ass," he drawls, unable to resist teasing her. Ironically that might be something Jhorn might have spilled but Kaskan's guessing he didn't from the easy way he's getting off the hook.

Watching Kaskan start to relax at her answer, Jaya shakes her head at the strangeness of mysterious men and nearly scoffs at his response. Her ass? "What about my ass?" she deliberately puts him in the hot seat - just for putting her in the hot seat moments before. "Seems you men have plenty to say about it, but never to my face." Leaning hands on knees as she bends forward some to pin him with an amused look, "Indulge me," she adds wryly.

Kaskan manages to maintain his cool as Jaya reacts just as he'd hoped. Stifling a yawn as she hovers threateningly closer he raises his gaze with deliberate slowness, expression a coy mask of utter disregard. Finally meeting her eye he can't hide the blatant humor lighting the blue of his, though lips curl with a definitive smugness. "I believe I already did - twice, in fact."

Kaskan's cheeky remark earns him an eye-narrowing look, but Jaya can't quite negate his words. Well, other than, "Nice way of evading the question." Touch. It's dropped dryly, but by now, the barkeep was getting quite used to his evasive tactics. Straightening up abruptly then, along with Shijan suddenly getting to his feet, "See you around, shuga," she drawls off at him, a hand lifting in a still-wave as she finally starts to make her departure with an amused snort in place.

Kaskan is way too proud of himself now. Shifting his weight he definitely settles in, obviously planning on staying put even though she's leaving. No retort is made to her reply, a simple nod acknowledging the truth of it. Watching her move to leave he leans to one side so he can wave in return, sending one last quip in farewell, "Yes. Yes you will."